Observer
by LeaMarie F. Metallium
Summary: Leo watches his brothers from the sidelines, but maybe they don't want him to.


Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT if I did…well then I'd have money.

* * *

Leo watched silently as Don and Raph worked on the Battle shell. Over the last few weeks the two had been working hard on repairs and improvements on the battered vehicle. Leo had been watching them for several minutes and just about to ask if they needed any help when Mikey bounced into the room and grabbed a hammer. In one fluid and silent motion Raph had taken the hammer away from him and Don had handed him a rag. Raph pointed to the windows and Mikey bounced over and started to wash the dust covered glass. Now with Mikey in the room the group had started chatting and laughing. Shaking his head he was about to come out when his shell cell vibrated. Sighing he looked down and saw the number on it was Splinter's. Leo sighed and stepped back into the other room and answered it.

* * *

Three hours later Leo came back out of the dojo and smiled as he saw his brothers playing some sort of racing game. The group was laughing and periodically Raph would nudge Mikey so his car would fly off of the track, only in doing so he would also crash giving Don's car the advantage. He was half way across the room to see if he could get in on the next round when Splinter's voice called him back. "My son, we need a few things from the store, would you mind?" Leo mentally sighed and nodded his head, bowing he went to get his disguise on and went out of the room.

* * *

Leo came back and found his brothers playing a game of basketball. It was Mikey and Don against Raph; who while being out numbered was doing a decent job of holding his own. It was a good match up between Mikey's natural athletic ability and Don's strategy against Raph's strength and lack of personal preservation. Leo was enjoying watching the brothers shove each other and laugh as they fought over the ball. In the short time Leo had been watching he had counted at least three fouls. Mikey looked up and smiled at Leo, forgetting he was holding the ball.

"Leo!" He called before he was flattened by Raph. Leo started his way over to steal the ball from Don who had made two shots before Raph could get himself off of the floor when his phone went off yet again. He answered and found that Casey needed his help with something that he was unwilling to talk about over the phone. Leo rolled his eyes and walked out of the room, oblivious to his brothers' eyes following him out.

* * *

He came back almost two hours later and heard Mikey making popcorn and singing, "Movie night, movie night, oh glorious movie night!"

Leo smiled as his brother sang, it wasn't unusually to see the younger turtle so excited about something but when it wasn't annoying, it was extremely endearing.

"Guys! Get your tails to your seats! The movie is starting as soon as I can get to the DVD player!" He yelled through the Lair. Leo had just sat down when his phone started, once again, ringing. He glanced down and saw that April was calling.

"Leo here," he answered.

"Leo! Great! I need some help with something, and I can't find Casey. Could you please stop by?" She asked.

"Be there in a bit," Leo stated hanging up the phone and standing up. He walked past Mikey who sent him a confused look before Leo walked out of the room.

* * *

Leo was drop dead tired after helping April move stuff around, he could understand why Casey had been hard to find, he'd been hiding! He could hear his brothers goofing off in the kitchen instead of going off to join them like he had tried all day he went into his room and shut the door. He pulled the pillow over his head and closed his eyes. He was almost asleep when he heard his door open just a crack. The door was open for a couple of seconds and shut again.

"Do you think he's mad at us for something?" Mikey's voice asked softly.

"I don't see what he'd be mad about. We haven't seen him all day," Raph's voice replied.

"Guys, is Leo back yet? I've been meaning to talk to him all day."

"Yeah, he's in his room, kind of looked like he was trying to suffocate himself," Mikey stated.

"What do you mean; he's tryin' to suffocate himself?" Raph demanded reopening Leo's door. "Leo, you awake?"

"Yeah."

"You mad at Mikey?"

"No."

"Then what the hell?" Raph demanded walking into the room. "Mikey had a fun night planned out for us and you didn't even show up!"

"Tired, Raph. Let's talk about this in the morning."

"It's ok, Raph. Leo didn't have to hang out with us. He's got more important things to do," Mikey said from outside the door. Even without seeing Mikey, Leo knew that the younger turtle was looking down at the floor or anywhere where Raph and Donnie couldn't see his eyes. Leo wanted to protest that there was nothing more important than his family, but his actions had said otherwise. Every time he'd gone to spend time with his little family he'd let himself be pulled away. He could hear Raph's growls and before he had a chance to even fully notice the sound, Raph had pulled the pillow off of his face and slammed it down again. Growling still, he left the room and slammed the door behind him, pillow still in hand.

Leo rolled over and he so could better hear Don and Mikey trying to calm Raph down. Only he didn't hear what he thought he was going to.

"Damn Leo. He's freaking gone and made Mikey cry! AGAIN!" Leo winced at the tone in Raph's voice and was amazed that he was trying to keep his voice low and not screaming his head off.

"Leo's been busy all day, he probably just didn't have time," Don reasoned.

A bang of Raph's fist hitting the wall caused Leo to jump slightly. "Damnit, Don! Leonardo has been ignoring us all for the last couple of days! He told Mikey last night that he'd watch a movie with us TONIGHT!" The brothers walked away leaving Leo to strain to hear them. "You've noticed it too, Donnie. Don't tell me that you haven't seen it, Mikey's been crying himself to sleep for the last week because of Fearless."

Leo closed his eyes and sighed.

"I'll talk to him in the morning," Leo vowed to himself as he fell asleep.

* * *

Something woke the blue banded turtle, and glancing around the room he couldn't figure it out. Nothing was out of place, and no one was moving about in the Lair. He sat up and opened his door softly. He could see light spilling out of Mikey's room and a soft murmur coming from it. Creeping up to the door Leo was surprised to hear Raph's voice and not Don's responding to Mikey. "Listen, Bro. We all know Leo can get a little caught up in what's going on in that stupid head of his."

"I know, I just thought…now that he's back from the jungle…" Mikey trailed off.

"That he'd be here?" Don guessed softly.

Leo guessed that Mikey nodded his head because he heard a small growl from Raph.

"He spent way too much time alone. The moron doesn't remember what it's like to be around us cool turtles."

Leo winced at the words and missed the sound of Raph lightly hitting Mikey in the shoulder.

"I think maybe…" Don trailed off, his already tired brain forgetting that he needed to vocalize his thoughts for his brothers.

"Maybe what, Donnie?" Mikey asked.

"I think maybe he doesn't know how to come back to us."

"Wadda ya mean?" Raph questioned in his usual demanding tone.

"I think you're kind of right. Leo spent a lot of time by himself in the jungle. Then when he came back he was tossed back into leader mode right away. He didn't have a chance to try to reconnect with us before he had to be the boss again."

"So he's forgotten how to be a brother?" Mikey asked softly.

Leo winced again, realizing that it was true. He'd been standing off to the side and observing the rest of the family interact with each other and forgetting that he was allowed to talk and play with them; that he was no longer "the phantom." Leo sighed and leaned on the wall wondering if now was the right time to go into his brother's room. He'd never had that problem before, Raph had been known to hang around the edge of the door before, but Leo had always been the first one in to calm Mikey's nightmares.

"Donnie, how do we get him to be our brother again?" Mikey asked, his voice sounding like that of a small child's.

"I don't know, Mikey."

"I have an idea. Let's go out there and pound his head in until he realizes how stupid he's being."

Leo smiled softly at Raph's response. If anyone would volunteer to beat his older brother up, it would be Raph. Especially for the younger two. Raph would never admit to it out loud but he had a certain soft spot for Don and Mikey.

"I don't think that'll help, Raph," Don answered, there was a little mirth in his tone, and Leo had a feeling that Don was thinking similar thoughts to his own. "You look tired, Mikey. Why don't you at least lie down. We'll stay with you until you fall asleep," Don offered.

Leo could hear shifting as Mikey moved, no doubt being covered up by Don and Raph sitting at the edge of the bed holding out "Beary" the stuffed bear to Mikey.

Leo moved away from the door, carefully avoiding the mini-obstacles on the floor and went back to his own room; confidant that Don and Raph had everything well under control.

* * *

Leo woke up an hour later and realized that the light from Mikey's room was still on. He got out of bed and walked out his door. He barely concealed a yelp as his foot landed on something sharp. He picked it up and found that it was a little green soldier that looked like it had lost an arm (and gun) to a candle or flame. Tossing it against the wall Leo stuck his head inside the door and found Mikey curled up on his bed with Raph sprawled across the foot of the bed. Don was sitting half in a chair half lying on the bed.

Rolling his eyes Leo pulled an extra blanket off of a shelf and draped it across Don before maneuvering some of the blankets that Mikey had kicked off of the bed over Raph. He held his breath as Mikey shifted and snuggled closer to Don. Raph growled and readjusted to take over more of the bed. Leo knew that in the morning Raph would have over half of the bed to himself; while Mikey would have the pillow and what ever wasn't occupied by Don.

Leo made his way over to the lights and turned them off he had just about gotten the door shut when he heard a soft voice call out. "Leo?"

Leo came back in the room and walked over to the half asleep Mikey. "Right here, baby-brother." He paused not knowing what to do. "Is there something you need?"

"Just checking that it was you." Mikey was obviously still mostly asleep. "Miss you."

Leo blinked back the tears that sprung to his eyes. "I miss you too, Mikey. Go back to sleep now, so you don't wake Raph, ok?"

Mikey nodded his head and lowered it to the pillow, instantly asleep again. Leo smiled and started walking back to the door when he heard another voice. "Jerk."

Leo chuckle and smiled. "I know, Raph."

"Stupid Fearless," came the response. Leo smiled and realized that Raph was dreaming, the dream probably being affected by his presence in the room. "Kick your shell, Leo." Raph rolled over and faced Leo. "Donnie, hold 'em down so I can kick 'em."

"Do it yourself," came Don's reply.

"Great half of my family not only talks in their sleep but carries on conversations in their sleep," Leo muttered, wondering when that had started to happen.

"I'm still working on your stupid shell-cycle. Never should have put a booster on that…"

"Donnie, stop working and go to sleep," Leo said softly from his new position at the door.

"Don't tell him what to do," Raph muttered.

Leo chuckled in response. "You can kick my shell in the morning, if you go to sleep now."

"Fine."

Leo walked out of the room shaking his head.

* * *

Leo woke up and crawled out of bed. He was exhausted from the night before and wanted to roll back over and go back to sleep. Instead of going be to sleep he pulled himself up out of the bed and into the dojo to start to practice. Half way through his morning routine he caught the smell of fresh pancakes and bacon. Deciding that he'd spent enough time working out he walked out and found Mikey cooking breakfast.

"Whatcha making, Mikey?" Leo asked coming up behind him and peered over his shoulder.

"Um…breakfast?" Mikey answered looking confused.

"Yeah, I guessed that, what are you making for breakfast?"

"Pancakes, bacon, and toast."

"Great. Want me to set the table?"

"Uh…Sure?" Mikey looked confused and watched as Leo pulled out the plates.

Raph and Don walked in and froze as they saw Leo.

"Uh…morning, Leo," Don said walking into the room and carefully trying to put himself in between the two older brothers, hoping that a fight wouldn't break out.

"Morning, Don. Working on anything special?"

"Uh, just improvements on the security system," Don looked between Raph and Leo confused on what was going on. "Why?"

Leo shrugged, and continued to set the table. "How about you Raph, what have you been up to?"

"Alright, who are you and what have you done with Leo?" Raph exclaimed, pulling out his sai and pointed them at Leo.

"Chill, Raph. Make yourself useful and get the juice out of the fridge would you?" Leo asked spreading the rest of the utensils out. He had his back to his brothers but he could feel the silent communication going on behind his back. He turned around just in time to see Mikey shrug his shoulders and put the bacon on a plate.

Raph went over and put the juice on the table and went to get a couple of glasses out of the cabinet. Don sat down and waited to be told to start to eat which Mikey did as soon as he set the last of the pancakes on the table. Leo took his normal place at the table and looked around at his brothers. "So anything planned for the day?"

"Uh…no?" Mikey guessed eyeing Leo curiously.

"Alright what the Hell, Leo?" Raph demanded. "You freakin' ignore us for a week and now you're bein' all buddy buddy? What gives?"

Leo set his fork down and sighed at the table.

"I know, and I'm sorry." He looked up at Mikey, who was staring at the food in front of him. "I was a complete jerk and…you guys didn't deserve it."

Raph leaned into his chair looking surprised at Leo's confession. "Why didn't you want to hang out with us?" Mikey asked looking up, blue eyes shinning. "Don't you like us anymore?"

Leo's eyes widened. "Of course I still like you guys!" He looked around making sure to meet each of his brother's eyes. Raph looked away almost as soon as Leo's eyes met his.

"Good morning, my sons!" Sprinter stated walking into the kitchen.

"Morning," they all coursed automatically.

"Master, what time is practice?" Mikey asked looking over to his mentor.

"Practice is from five until seven tonight," Splinter answered not even looking away from his 'stories'.

Mikey looked thoughtfully for a minute, before meekly asking, "Leo?"

"Yes?"

"Can we get ice cream after practice?"

Normally Leo wouldn't have thought twice about saying no, but the look in his brothers' eyes (yes plural, they were all begging for him!) and the way he had been acting he paused and nodded his head. "Yeah, we can get ice cream. I'll even pay for it."

Mikey smiled and dug into his breakfast. "We also have the whole day to do stuff…"

Leo chuckled and nodded his head. "Ok, ok, I get the hint. What ever you guys want to do, we'll do it." He handed Donnie his shell-cell. "This thing pulled me away too much yesterday. You decide what calls get through."

"Oh, so I'm your secretary?" Don asked sounding slightly annoyed, Leo guessed it was from a lack of sleep.

"No, no, that's not what I meant!" Leo exclaimed. "I just meant that you-" he stopped trying to dig himself out of the hole that he thought he'd dug when Don started laughing.

"I know, what you meant," Don said waving a hand letting Leo off of the hook.

"Guys, we're wasting time! Eat so we can go play!" Mikey bounced in his seat having finished his meal.

"Ok, Mikey. Why don't you go and get something for us to do?" Leo suggested. Mikey nodded and bounced out of the room, smiling.

Don was the next one to finish and smiled at the other two brothers. "I'm just going to check my email. Call me when we're ready."

Raph studied Leo as he finished his food. "You know, if you "bale" out on this, I will hurt you," Raph's voice was for once not angry but held only the promise.

"I won't." The brothers continued to stare each other down. "I heard you guys last night. I knew I'd upset Mikey, I just didn't realize how much."

"I don't want to have to go back into his room in the middle of the night, because he's crying because you broke a promise to him." Raph gave Leo a hard look. "Got it?"

Leo nodded his head and looked down at his hands.

"Raph, thank you for taking care of him. And Don too, I know you've been keeping an eye on them."

"They're my brothers too."

Leo nodded his head. "Do me a favor?" Raph gave him a look. "If I start to get caught up in stuff and ignore you guys like I've been doing, wax my shell would ya?"

"It'd be my pleasure, Leo. Now come on before Mikey brakes something."

Leo nodded and stood up. "Hey, Raph…You know-"

"I know, Leo, I know. Me too. Now stop being mushy and do your job and make sure that Mikey isn't destroying the place." He shoved Leo out the door playfully, before patting him on the shoulder. They shared a smile as Mikey came flying out of his room, bubbling with suggestions on what they could do for the day.

* * *

One of the definitions of this term is "A group of turtles". Don't believe me? Go to and see for yourself!

Thanks to Angel Phantom for Beta'ing this for me! You rock girl!


End file.
